Report Card 2008 | philly.com

The Philadelphia Inquirer

School Districts

Information about public school districts is based largely on responses to a survey sent to superintendents last fall by The Inquirer. Most data are for 2006-07. Some information was provided by the Departments of Education in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. All numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number.
NR (Not Reported). Used when a district did not provide data.
NA (Not Applicable). Used when the information does not apply to the district.
Special education and gifted. The percentage of students enrolled in special education or "gifted and talented" programs.
Percent attending private schools. Estimated percentage of school-age children in the district who are enrolled in nonpublic schools.
Teachers. Number of classroom teachers.
Teacher salaries. Beginning salaries for 2006-07 were provided by the districts. Salary distributions are based on The Inquirer’s analysis of state classroom teacher data for 2005-06.
Spending per student. Pennsylvania: The number represents a district’s 2005-06 budgeted expenditures divided by enrollment. New Jersey: The data are comparative cost per student for 2005-06 and do not include several budgetary items.
Change in spending per student. The percent change between 1996-97 and 2005-06 in the district. During the period, spending rose 19 percent in the Pennsylvania suburbs and 24 percent in South Jersey.
Change in enrollment.The percent change in enrollment between 1997-96 and 2005-06. Total enrollment in the region grew 8 percent.